The tweet seemed to tickle O’Brien, who came back with “.@Madeleine YES – My first twitter war with a former Secretary of State! You’re next, George P. Shultz!”

Albright, who in the Clinton administration in 1997 became the first woman to serve as secretary of state, offered the funnyman 90 characters of wisdom: “.@ConanOBrien Never get into a word war with a diplomat. We talk even more than comedians.”

The sparring ended with O’Brien tweeting, “Damn – Whenever I go toe to toe with @Madeleine Albright, she always wins.”